For Adult Clients

For nearly fifty years I have assisted people in navigating physical and mental health challenges. I help them to know themselves better and to develop new skills. Some life experiences are painful. Creating a trusting relationship with a therapist can help one face difficulties and explore one’s resources in a secure setting. I am committed to helping people access the innate healing powers inherent in their own lives. My treatment approach is based in attachment and neurobiology theories and integrates our bodies, intellects, and emotions. I am skilled in verbal therapies and I also offer Expressive Arts options. Sandtray has been the method that I have found to be the most efficacious for adults. I welcome all ethnicities, cultures, faiths, and genders. If you are interested in what you see on this website, please contact me to make an appointment.

Some experiences cannot be easily expressed in words. Painting, drawing, clay, and crafts are available in my office. The most prominent Expressive Arts items are the sand trays and the various miniatures that may be used to form a “world” in the sand. Sandtray requires no skill to use and can be fun as well as informative. I do not view Sandtray as a stand-alone method of treatment, although some people may choose it quite routinely. Expressive Arts approaches tend to be nonverbal or less verbal and are meant to evoke the vague and indescribable elements of life, as well as those already accessible to us. Expressive Arts therapies provide a way to look at ourselves and to identify resources that may be hidden from us. Please consider the statements of some Sandtray creators below. Note that the images provided do not correspond to the speakers. They are solely examples of various ways people may express themselves.

Am I too old for therapy? The short answer is no.

In the 1960’s it was assumed that the human brain stopped growing after age 12. Freud believed that humans stopped developing after 50… Both are incorrect assumptions.

In our maturity we have much more to adapt to, such as health changes, losses, and reorganizing our lives. Current science reveals that our brains remain flexible throughout our lives. According to Daniel Plotkin, MD, a mature age is associated with qualities that are much more likely to make psychotherapy successful (AARP.org/bulletin, 3-21).

Consider these perspectives:

  • “In youth we learn; in age we understand.” Marie Ebner-Eschenbach
  • “There’s a great difference between simply living a long life and living a full and rewarding life. What’s really important is how much rich texture and color we can add to our lives….Quality is the true value, not quantity.” Daisaku Ikeda
  • “There is a fountain of youth: it’s your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” Sophia Loren
  • “Grow old along with me! / The best is yet to be, / The last of life, for which the first was made…” Robert Browning
Adult

What is Sandtray Therapy?

Margaret Lowenfeld’s Sandtray methods are designed to access the innate healing powers within an individual’s life. Using what is created in the sand world we can reach into the depths of our lives and bring forth the images that we routinely rely on for perception and decision making. Sometimes our experiences are beyond words, and at other times our words do not accurately reflect our experiences. Sandtray can reveal how the non-cognitive aspect of our minds influence daily life. New perspectives gained through these sessions begin to clarify what actions one may take to heal, recover, and grow.

Sandtray can be a profoundly revitalizing and deeply intimate experience with one’s self. The therapist does not interpret or analyze the sand world but may function as a Witness or guide to enrich one’s focus, to explore and to harvest the wisdom from lesser-known parts of one’s life. Individuals make their own discoveries. Control lies with the Creator of the world. With a therapist’s aid, a world Creator can unfold fresh personal meanings. As people more clearly identify and harness the implicit aspects of their own lives, they become increasingly self-empowered to make healthier choices.